Are there any fresh ideas out there?

I was asked to be interviewed this past January
for the Voices of Experience CD series for
National Speakers Association.

During the interview, I talked about a couple of
my clients who were doing some fresh things in
their speech and in their marketing. (Like Scott
Klososky who bought the cow on stage and Steve
Little who has a cool, interactive website).

From this conversation, ‘The Fresh Idea
Challenge’ was born.

I was actually nervous to announce the contest
because I thought so many ideas would come pouring
in that I’d have a hard time handling them. Not!

Let’s just say I was underwhelmed by the
response and it got me thinking…..

1. Either people are afraid to share their fresh
ideas (perhaps others might ‘adopt’ them) or….

2. There are no fresh ideas.

I cannot imagine that it’s #2. In fact, I know
that speakers are some of the most creative people
on the planet so I’m putting out the challenge
again and the winning ideas will be posted on my
website and broadcast on the summer edition of
Voices of Experience.

Here’s what you should do if you have a fresh idea
in the area of marketing (things that worked to
get you booked with clients) or platform (things
that worked from the stage that the audience and
client loved).

Write a 1 paragraph description of the idea and
a 1 paragraph description of the results and
send it to jane@speakerlauncher.com

We know that in our industry ideas are shared and
recycled and reworked – that’s part of the
industry. What we are seeking here is something
that we may not have heard before or new twists on
old ideas.

Your name will be used along with the idea but if
you got the idea from someone else (even if you
put your own spin on it) please credit them as
well.

We’ll keep you posted.

ps: My book ‘The Wealthy Speaker’ was a
complilation of ideas that I gathered from my 18
years with the National Speakers Association.
From the minute I arrived at my first convention
in Washington DC, to last month in Denver, I’ve
been learning. I owe everything I know to NSA’ers
including the likes of Thom Winninger, Mark
Sanborn, Joe Calloway, Kris Young, Mark
LeBlanc…. I could go on for hours. The
spirit of sharing is NSA. Let’s not let fear get
in our way.